Underneath It All
by DownAssChik
Summary: James Potter is the most popular guy in school, but only because of his wealth and looks. He never talks to anyone besides his 3 best friends if he can help it. but what happens when he meets Lily Evans?
1. Reflecting

Underneath It All  
  
Summery  
  
James Potter is the most popular guy in school, but only because of his wealth and looks. He never talks to anyone besides his 3 best friends if he can help it. And James has one rule: never fall in love, but what happens when he meets Lily Evans? Because buried under all the money, good looks and Quidditch is a heart of gold.  
  
Disclaimer  
  
Hogwarts, most of the teachers, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Hogsmead and anything else you recognize belongs to J.K Rowling. Lily's friends and anyone or anything you don't recognize belongs to me, including the plot.  
  
Author's note  
  
This is my first story so I don't mind constructive criticism but no really mean flames, also I'm trying to make this a non-cliché fic so if I'm doing that wrong please tell me, constructively of course. As much as I loved OOTP I'm ignoring what J.K Rowling said about Lily and James in it. So the stuff in 'Snape's worst memory' didn't happen. Lily is in sixth year in this and James is in seventh. Also, I'll be switching POV with chapters (between Lily and James), Savvy? (if you recognize that world, you'll know it's from Pirates of the Caribbean..My all time fave movie.  
  
So anyway read n' review, hope you like it!  
  
It was cold, very cold. It was probably the coldest day in England that year.  
  
The students of Hogwarts all sat in their common rooms in front of the fire or covered in blankets  
  
All except one 17-year-old boy.  
  
He stood outside, among the snow and ice, barely taking in his surroundings.  
  
No one saw him, which was saying something, as he was the most popular kid in school, but no one noticed him, save perhaps the headmaster, who was looking out of his office window at the boy, a worried, even pitying expression on his aged, wise face.  
  
Outside, the boy was getting restless. It seemed to be a habit of his lately, he very rarely could stay in the same place for long. It bothered him, bothered him that he was so fidgety. But it was probably the least of his worries. He would endure a lifetime of restlessness if he could just be like everyone else; normal.  
  
But he could never be, not with a family and a reputation like his.  
  
When he was home there was always arguing, arguing between his Mother and Father, sister and Mother, brother and Father. Practically everyone in his house yelled at each other, so much for the happy family everyone thought they had.  
  
Then he came to school and it wasn't much better.  
  
Girls were always either fawning over him or stealing glances at him. Everyone else, who were half normal, skirted around him in the halls, afraid to run in to him.  
  
Because he was dangerous, apparently.  
  
Dangerous and scary. No one dared to cross his path.  
  
That wasn't the way he wanted it, but that was the way it was.  
  
With a start he remembered he had a meeting with the Head Girl in 5 minutes.  
  
Sighing, James Potter made his way back up to the school.  
  
Sorry that it was so short, it was sort of a introduction thingy. I'll write a longer chapter next time if you review.  
  
Anyway have fun and review.  
  
DownAssChik. 


	2. Dreams

Underneath It All  
  
Summery  
  
James Potter is the most popular guy in school, but only because of his wealth and looks. He never talks to anyone besides his 3 best friends if he can help it. And James has one rule: never fall in love, but what happens when he meets Lily Evans? Because buried under all the money, good looks and Quidditch is a heart of gold.  
  
Disclaimer  
  
Hogwarts, most of the teachers, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Hogsmead and anything else you recognize belongs to J.K Rowling. Lily's friends and anyone or anything you don't recognize belongs to me, including the plot.  
  
Okay, now for the reviews  
  
Bombshell- Thankyou so much. You're my first reviewer. Thanks, it put me on such a high all day!!!!  
  
Eldalie-mela- Yeah, I just decided to do something different, I hope it's not too much like other story's, just tell me if it is. Anyway, thanks, glad you like it.  
  
Remy's Gurl- Lol, I try!! Thanks, glad you like it  
  
Demeter- Really? Wow, I feel so special. Seriously, thanks, that's one of the best things I heard all day  
  
Zwizwi- Thanks!  
  
Rosellen- Sure, I'd love to hear your ideas and maybe I'll use 'em. Thanks.  
  
Lynn- Thanks!.  
  
Anyway I hope you guys like this chapter and keep reviewing  
  
It was 1:00 on a Monday night and only one person lay awake in the sixth year Gryffindor girl's dormitories.  
  
It wasn't that Lily Evans had stayed up late, she had gotten a couple of hours sleep that night.  
  
The reason she was awake?  
  
Her dreams.  
  
Lily had been having these dreams for about 2 weeks now, not every night, but they seemed to happen when she was stressed, tired or sick. Considering the amount of schoolwork she had, it was no wonder she had one of these dreams that night.  
  
It wasn't even as if they were bad dreams, but they weren't actually good dreams either.  
  
Lily didn't really understand her dreams. They were mostly swirls of colours, words and snippets of what she had seen that day. But the end of these dreams was always the same, darkness, darkness and howling wind.  
  
Lily was sure there was some cryptic message hidden in these dreams, but as she didn't feel like racking her brain at the moment, Lily headed downstairs into the common room.  
  
She entered the common room and immediately could sense someone there. Not a human someone, but someone nevertheless. Lily looked around and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the small creature standing by the fireplace, it's back turned to her.  
  
After a few moments of mild panic, Lily realized it was a houself.  
  
Not wanting to cause the elf any distress by being seen by a human, Lily decided to slip out.  
  
She didn't really feel like going back to he common room, so she decided to go for a walk. Seeing as it was now 1:15, Lily had to be extra careful not to be seen.  
  
Lily quickly tiptoed out of the common room, and into to the cold, bare corridor.  
  
To most people a walk late at night in winter would seem like a terrible idea, but to Lily it was refreshing. She didn't really like going to sleep, she was a night person, or so her mother said. And considering Lily's mother thought she was a night person, she probably was.  
  
Lily had an extremely loving relationship with her mother, she trusted her above anyone else in the world. Lily's mother always gave her great advise and whenever she felt down her mother would make he feel better.  
  
Not that Lily ever really felt unhappy. She was a pretty positive person. She had great parents, great friends and did pretty well in school. It was simple, Lily loved life.  
  
But there was one thing Lily was scared of in life, and it was love.  
  
She was scared of falling so completely in love with someone that she would do anything for them.  
  
Lily was an independent person and she was afraid of giving herself wholly to someone.  
  
Lily had been lost in her thoughts and didn't notice where she was going. She had ended up a few corridors away from her common room.  
  
Lily realized it was only a matter of time before she got caught, so she reluctantly headed back to her common room. 


	3. A bad day

Underneath It All  
  
Summery  
  
James Potter is the most popular guy in school, but only because of his wealth and looks. He never talks to anyone besides his 3 best friends if he can help it. And James has one rule: never fall in love, but what happens when he meets Lily Evans? Because buried under all the money, good looks and Quidditch is a heart of gold.  
  
Disclaimer  
  
Hogwarts, most of the teachers, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Hogsmead and anything else you recognize belongs to J.K Rowling. Lily's friends and anyone or anything you don't recognize belongs to me, including the plot.  
  
Ea187- Thanks heaps. I'm glad you liked the characters. I wasn't sure if people would like 'em but thanks.  
  
i-h8-sclub- Thanks for the reminder about Hogwarts. Sometimes I forget things like that. Yay! Another 'Pirate's' fan.. OMG it is the best movie ever..Me and my friend are obsessed with it, it's all we talk about. Captain Jack Sparrow was the ultimate coolest in the world And yeah I hate s club to..Stupid manufactured pop band..Peace  
  
Ghsheazhzh- Yeah sorry bout' that, I just sorta had to introduce Lily n' James and this chapter will tell more..I promise!!  
  
LogicalRaven- Thanks!  
  
Lily Skylo- Thanks, glad u like em', and your right Sirius is not dead.he's just gone away coz Harry is such a annoying little godson.Yep that's it  
  
Glitterdust- oooooh yay thanks. And you will find out more about Lily and James' relationship in this chapter  
  
Demeter-Thanks!. I'm sorry about the shortness, chapters will be longer from now on  
  
Redtiger- Sorry bout that, but they'll be longer from now on, thanks!  
  
Rosellen- Thanks!  
  
Remy's girl- Really? Thanks. I read some of your stories today, I read the 'Sirius and Ally are bored' fics..hehe so funny!. I read 'Kristina will cry, a one shot fic' and 'More then one shot', they were so good. Real talent!  
  
Bombshell- hehe, yup high as a kite. Anyway glad you liked it  
  
A bad day  
  
It was a bad day for James Potter, worse then usual. Today he got the letter that he had been expecting for so long, but still shocked him when it came. Today he got a letter from his Mother telling him that his Father and her had had enough of the fighting and were getting a divorce.  
  
Bout' bloody time, thought James. It wasn't as if he had a close relationship with his parents, so it wasn't a case of not knowing which parent to live with, it just annoyed him. He had to put up with the fighting for so long and then one day his parents just decide to divorce. It was a pretty stupid reason to be annoyed, but he was.  
  
And from then on James' day went from bad to worse.  
  
He had to endure 2 straight hours of the potions master, Professor Sicker, putting him down at any possible chance (sound familiar, anyone?), had got a fresh load of homework to do before the next day, had no luck with the quidditch tryouts (they were trying to found a new keeper) and to top it all of had a meeting with the prefects that evening.  
  
His musings were interrupted by a voice behind him  
  
'Hi Jimmy'  
  
It was his best friend Sirius Black  
  
'Hey Sirius and I told you it's James not Jimmy' James glanced up so he was facing his friend.  
  
'Yeah, whatever you say. Anyway what's with the gloomy face? You look like your cat's leg has just been amputated' said Sirius, sitting down next to James.  
  
'You know Sirius, I think the expression is 'You look like your dog died' James said, smirking at his best friend  
  
'Yeah, well you know me, never one to go along with the crowd' said Sirius, grinning 'anyway what's with the extreme case of the blues'  
  
James sighed and looked around at his surroundings. The Gryffindor common room was crowded, as it was still fairly early in the evening. There were groups of students doing homework at the round wooden tables and more students sitting on the plush, comfy, scarlet couches.  
  
James turned back to Sirius.  
  
'I got a letter from my parents today, there getting a divorce'  
  
Sirius swore under his breath  
  
'Look, I'm really sorry, mate, it must be hard'  
  
James smiled wryly.  
  
'Doesn't really matter, Si, you know I'm not that close to my parents. I'm all right, just having a bad day '  
  
'Yeah, well, as soon as we get a few pranks underway, you'll feel better, Jim' said Sirius, a dreamy look on his face at the thought of pranks  
  
'If you say so, Si and don't call me Jim' James said narrowing his eyes  
  
'I'll stop when you stop calling me Si' Sirius said, scrunching up his nose at the name James had given him when he was 5.  
  
'You know he couldn't stop calling you that even if he tried, he's been doing it for too long' said a laughing voice from behind them.  
  
James and Sirius' other best friends, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew had joined them in the common room. Together the four friends made up 'The Marauders', the best pranksters in the school.  
  
Even though they were all friends they were all completely different in personality and looks.  
  
Sirius was much louder then his other friends and more outgoing. He was the kind of person who was always up for a challenge.  
  
Sirius had dark eyes and dark straggly hair that just reached his shoulders and was always tied back in a ponytail. He was tall but not as tall as James was.  
  
Remus Lupin was, if there was one, the quiet one of the group. He was fun and always ready for a laugh but if you ever needed advice you would go to Remus.  
  
Remus had sandy brown hair and light brown eyes. He was very thin and quite often looked tired and pale. This was because Remus was a werewolf and his transformations were very exhausting.  
  
Peter Pettigrew was the all round shy one of the group. A lot of people didn't know why Peter was in this group of sporty, smart and funny boys but to Sirius, James and Remus, Peter was and always would be a marauder.  
  
Peter had short dark blonde hair and squinty blue eyes. He was short and rather plump.  
  
And then came James, James the one with the reputation, James the 'scary' one, James with the dysfunctional family.  
  
James had inherited his Father's untidy black hair that no matter how many times you brushed it, it stayed the same. He had gotten his warm, hazel eyes from his Mother.  
  
Remus and Sirius had started up a game of chess, so they stayed like that for an hour until Remus finally won.  
  
James went of to the meeting with the prefects and his other friends went to the library to do homework.  
  
When James entered the spare classroom where the meeting was being held, the room appeared empty, but after looking around the room he saw there was one more person, a girl who looked about 1 or 2 years younger then him. (3 guesses who it is)  
  
At the sound of his footsteps, the girl looked up. James didn't recognize her, she didn't look like most of the girls at Hogwarts.  
  
The girl had wavy red hair and bright green eyes.  
  
James noticed the girl was looking at him, so he nodded in greeting.  
  
The girl gave a small grin and went back to the book she was reading.  
  
Slowly the other prefects and the Head girl started to filter into the room.  
  
James and the Head girl, Janet Denison conducted the meeting and in an hour it was over.  
  
When he got to the common room, James finished his homework then went to bed, glad the day was over.  
  
I dunno bout that chapter. It's a bit crappie. I hate describing the Marauders and Lily. It's so boring, I mean everyone already knows what they look like  
  
Anyway have fun and review  
  
Peace. 


	4. First Meeting

Underneath It All  
  
Summery  
  
James Potter is the most popular guy in school, but only because of his wealth and looks. He never talks to anyone besides his 3 best friends if he can help it. And James has one rule: never fall in love, but what happens when he meets Lily Evans? Because buried under all the money, good looks and Quidditch is a heart of gold.  
  
Disclaimer  
  
Hogwarts, most of the teachers, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Hogsmead and anything else you recognize belongs to J.K Rowling. Lily's friends and anyone or anything you don't recognize belongs to me, including the plot.  
  
Thanks for all the reviews. U guys are so cool! Sorry this took so long, my holiday was longer then I expected, but I'm not complaining, I got to see Pirates of the Caribbean again. If you haven't seen it yet I recommend that you do. It's the best movie in the world, so go see it..but not now, after you've read this chapter.  
  
Okay, on with the chapter  
  
James woke the next morning to icy water being poured over his head and three faces peering down at him.  
  
'What.what the hell was that for, you idiots' he spluttered at his best friends, and at the same time trying to shake his sopping hair out of his eyes.  
  
'Ah, the beast has awoken' said Sirius, smirking  
  
'Sirius, in the nicest possible way, are you insane?' James asked grumpily.  
  
'Now why in the world would you ask that' Sirius said, still grinning  
  
'Well it would explain why you find it necessary to pour cold water on me at this hour'  
  
Sirius chuckled. 'James, you slept in, we've missed half of breakfast. We could have gone down without you, but being the nice friends we are we waited, so now you will feel no need to curse us because of our harmless joke'  
  
'Harmless joke!' James fumed 'Sirius, I'm bloody freezing. It'll be amazing if I don't catch cold.. A really bad one'  
  
Remus flicked his wand and James was dry  
  
James got ready quickly, he didn't want to miss breakfast  
  
'If you have to curse anyone, curse Sirius, it was his idea' said Remus, as they made their way down the stairs  
  
'Oh sure blame me, Moony' Sirius said, punching him lightly on the shoulder.  
  
When James entered the great hall, he was immediately met by the smell of breakfast. All of a sudden he felt extremely hungry.  
  
Not looking where he was going, James ran straight into someone leaving the great hall. As James stuck out his hand to help the person up he realized it was the red-haired girl from the prefect meeting the night before.  
  
'Oh gosh, I'm so sorry' the girl said as she stood up, shaking her wavy hair from her eyes. 'but that's me for ya, always the clumsy one'. The girl grinned  
  
'Right' said James, nodding. He had to admit he was a little freaked out by the girl's cheerfulness.  
  
'Lily, you coming or what?' called a girl by the doors  
  
'I'm coming, Tasha' the girl, obviously called Lily yelled over her shoulder.  
  
'Anyway, I'll see you around James' Lily said  
  
'Yeah, bye. wait, how did you know my name?' asked James uncertainly  
  
'I dunno. word gets around' said Lily, walking away  
  
James stood there puzzled. No one usually was that comfortable talking to him, besides his friends and teachers. Not that he minded people being comfortable while talking to him, it was just weird.  
  
James shrugged, quickly walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down.  
  
'So, charming one of your lady friends' asked Sirius while the others tried to hide their laughs.  
  
'Sirius, I don't even know her' said James as he helped himself to some eggs.  
  
'Well, whoever she is, she's hot' said Sirius grinning  
  
'Really, Sirius is that all you think about?' asked Remus.  
  
'Do you really wanna know the answer to that?'  
  
'No, we really don't' said James, laughing.  
  
Sorry that was short and didn't really tell much about the story. Someone (I can't really remember who) asked why Lily and James are in different years. It's for the sake of the story so just pretend Lily was a year younger then James.  
  
Anyway read n' review peoples.  
  
Peace. 


	5. All About James

Underneath It All  
  
Summery  
  
James Potter is the most popular guy in school, but only because of his wealth and looks. He never talks to anyone besides his 3 best friends if he can help it. And James has one rule: never fall in love, but what happens when he meets Lily Evans? Because buried under all the money, good looks and Quidditch is a heart of gold.  
  
Disclaimer  
  
Hogwarts, most of the teachers, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Hogsmead and anything else you recognize belongs to J.K Rowling. Lily's friends and anyone or anything you don't recognize belongs to me, including the plot.  
  
A/N- Okay, first of all I wanna say I am sooo sorry. I was gonna write heaps in the holidays but then I got busy with stuff and in my spare time I just slept coz I've been really tired. Now there's only 1 day left til school starts again but I'll try to write lots during the school term. Anyway if your still reading this thanks for being so patient. I can't be bothered personally thanking reviewer's coz I just wanna get this out but thankyou so much for all the reviews. I really, really appreciate them, your reviews are what keep me writing.  
  
Another thing, I know most people hate OC's but I had to give Lily friends. I'm trying to make them as non-cliché as possible but if you have any advice or tips on how to make them better characters you can tell me in reviews and it would help heaps.  
  
All about James  
  
'Okay, let me get this straight' said Lily Evans' best friend Natasha Gilmore as she paced up and down the dormitory, waving her hands everywhere as she talked.  
  
'You, Lily Evans talked to James Potter this morning?'  
  
'Yup, but Tash, I dunno why you're making such a big deal out of it' said Lily as she finished of her Charms homework. 'I mean he's just a guy'  
  
'Just a guy, she thinks he's just a guy. What sort of rock has she been living under for five years' muttered Natasha, falling melodramatically onto her bed.  
  
After a few minutes of silence Natasha sat up  
  
'Lils, do you know who James Potter is'  
  
'Yeah, course. He's a guy in seventh year who just happens to be very good looking' Lily said in a absent minded voice as she corrected her homework  
  
'Lily, hun' Tasha started in a voice that sounded like she was a second away from jumping up and down, screaming and pulling her mid-length dark brown hair out.  
  
'James Potter is well and truly the most popular guy at Hogwarts. His family is practically like royalty in the wizard world, there filthy rich and nearly all of the men in their family has been or will be a top Auror or Minister for Magic '  
  
Tasha stopped talking, took a deep breath and just when Lily had opened her mouth to say something, she started talking again.  
  
'James hardly ever talks to anyone, except his three best friends. People say that he put a third year in the hospital wing for disturbing his studies. He's head boy and supposed to really smart' Tasha rambled on her dark eyes wide and eager.  
  
'Besides, he's a seventh year and were sixth years' said Tasha matter of factually 'Everyone knows seventh years don't bother with sixth years'  
  
'For a oh so non-important sixth year, you sure know a lot about James Potter' Lily said smirking  
  
'Well, I've done my research' Tasha said as the door opened.  
  
April Foster crossed the room in a few quick strides and sank onto her four- poster bed.  
  
'Hey April, how was your detention?' asked Lily  
  
April groaned before she looked up to speak  
  
'Can you believe that git, Capeseo (the potions master) made me scrub every last inch of his stupid dungeon' April sighed ' I didn't even do anything, that prick Malfoy had it coming, I swear'  
  
April swept her long black hair into a ponytail and quickly changed into her pajamas.  
  
'I'm going to hit the sack now, been a long day' April said 'Night Lils, night Tash'  
  
'Yeah, good idea, night everyone' said Tasha yawning  
  
'K, well I'm not tired yet so I'm gonna go down to the common room and I'll be up later' said Lily walking to the door 'night guys'  
  
A few moments later Lily was sitting in her favorite comfy armchair by one of the windows. She looked around, taking notice of the people around her.  
  
There was a group of rather loud fourth years sitting over by one of the other windows and a few second years sitting around a table doing homework. There was also a group of four boys sitting by the fire talking in hushed voices. On closer inspection Lily realized it was James Potter and his friends.  
  
Lily shook her head as she leaned back in her armchair. Really, she thought, Tash was just being her usual gossipy self when she was telling Lily about James. He didn't look intimidating at all. In fact he looked kind of unhappy.  
  
As Lily watched James and his friends talk, she began to feel sorry for him. She could relate to him in a way. At her muggle primary school she attended before Hogwarts she was considered popular, but she couldn't see why she was. It made her primary school days unhappy as there where always rumors being made up about her and people getting the wrong impression about her. That was why she decided to keep a low profile at Hogwarts.  
  
Lily came to the conclusion that this was why James seemed unhappy. By the sounds of it half the wizard world knew who he, or at least his family was. He probably got sick of his every move being scrutinized and false personas being made for him by his peers.  
  
It made Lily realise how lucky she was that, even though her family wasn't the richest or the most well known, they loved her and she was able to live a normal life.  
  
Lily decided that the next time she talked to James she would make an effort to be extra nice.  
  
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K, well I hope you liked that chapter. Remember to tell me if you liked Lily's friends or how I can improve them. Review and I'll write more, savvy?  
  
Peace 


	6. Detention in the Dungeon

Underneath It All  
  
Summery  
  
James Potter is the most popular guy in school, but only because of his wealth and looks. He never talks to anyone besides his 3 best friends if he can help it. And James has one rule: never fall in love, but what happens when he meets Lily Evans? Because buried under all the money, good looks and Quidditch is a heart of gold.  
  
Disclaimer  
  
Hogwarts, most of the teachers, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Hogsmead and anything else you recognize belongs to J.K Rowling. Lily's friends and anyone or anything you don't recognize belongs to me, including the plot.  
  
A/N I have had so much homework lately. Somehow teachers must find it amusing to pile everyone with assignments on the first week of term. Plus I have a new science teacher who is an absolute biaaaatch!!!!. I really really hate science. it's my worst subject in the world, anyone else hate science heaps? I can sympathize. oh well, only 8 weeks til the summer holidays. Anyway thanks for listening to my lil rant, needed to get that out. And, yeah that's why I took so long to update this, and sorry this story has been so short but I'm having a bit of trouble making it longer, anyway I'll try and make it longer, k  
  
Anyways, I'm personally thanking reviews today, so yay for me  
  
Ruth3: Yay, I can't wait either coz it's fun writing this story. Anywho thanks 4 reviewing  
  
ShorTi: nup, not intentionally but it did come out that way, I guess. Anyway thanks  
  
Demeter: Thanks for the advice. I'll try to make em sound more British but coz I'm Aussie it might be a bit hard, but I'll try  
  
Cora Eloise: Thanks, I was hoping it would be a new story  
  
Pao Bloom: Yay, I can't wait til James is happy. Thanks  
  
Fiery Pheonix: Thanks!  
  
Bombshell: Is amoeba queen a author you want me to review, coz I tried to search but couldn't find anything, but anyway I'll keep looking, anyway thanks  
  
Glitterdust: Really? I'm glad they were o.k. Thanks!  
  
Lily Skylo: Awww, thanks, your so nice, glad u liked her friends, Thanks!  
  
Yea: Thanks!  
  
Okay, on with the chapter  
  
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Detention in the Dungeons  
  
At breakfast a few mornings after James met Lily something happened that the students had seen before, yet still disturbed them.  
  
A student received an official looking white envelop with the Ministry of Magic stamp on the back.  
  
This may have seemed not that bad but given the state of the wizarding world it was.  
  
A power-hungry wizard, going by the name of Lord Voldemort was convincing more and more people to join him on his quest to gain control of the wizarding world.  
  
Lord Voldemort and his followers were killing witches and wizards at an alarming rate and even though the Ministry of Magic was doing everything they could to stop him, they weren't having much success.  
  
A letter from the Ministry most likely meant that a family member had been killed at the hand of Voldemort.  
  
It didn't matter how many times James saw a student get one of the letters, he was still left feeling sick and shaken.  
  
The name Lord Voldemort had created a deep sense of rage inside him that he couldn't put into words.  
  
He couldn't stand one man so much sadness and destruction to the world he lived in. It seemed that everytime a small ray of hope shone through for people, death would rear its ugly and distorted head at them.  
  
James was angry and confused to see his world crushed beyond repair while it seemed nobody could do anything about it.  
  
Voldemort had spies everywhere and lately you had to be careful who you trusted. Voldemort was the reason James had become so withdrawn. When Voldemort had first begun gaining power James had realized that someday it might be someone he was close to that was hurt. He couldn't stand losing someone to Voldemort. At first James had tried to distance himself from Sirius, Remus and Peter but theyhad said that, Voldemort or not they would stick by him. So James kept the company of his three best friends but was careful not to get close to anyone else.  
  
James felt sick as he watched the pale, teary third year girl fleeing from the great hall, a few worried friends following her.  
  
The students and teachers were left shocked and somber at the aftermath of this event and the atmosphere stayed like this for the rest of breakfast.  
  
The first lesson of the day was Potions with the Slythrins so it didn't really boost James's mood when it was time to go to class.  
  
It was common knowledge that the Slythrins and Gryffindors hated each other and for James having potions with the Slythrins was complete torture and the potions teacher Professor Capeseo didn't help matters. He was rude, nasty and generally treated the Slythrins like kings and the Gryffindors like dirt.  
  
So 15 minutes after the incident in the Great Hall, James entered the potions dungeon with his friends. They took there usual seats at a table in the back of the room and almost at once the drawling voice of Lucious Malfoy, a snobby, particularly nasty seventh year, met their ears.  
  
'I think Lord Voldemort has the right idea, killing all the scum littering our world, I mean the best thing we can do is to get rid of the muggle borns'  
  
Lucious looked over and saw James watching him.  
  
'Don't you agree, Potter?' he asked, smirking evilly 'I mean, you as Head boy should care about the school and the best thing to do is to get rid of all the filthy mudbloods'  
  
James felt a hot rush of anger develop in his chest. Inside his pocket his hand gripped his wand tightly  
  
'Malfoy, the best thing for the school would be if you left' said James angrily 'but as that's not going to happen anytime soon, you should just shut your fat mouth'  
  
'What are you going to do bout' it, Potter?' said Malfoy smirking and leaning back in his chair'  
  
James didn't really have time to think at all as he stared and Malfoy's gloating face but he did know that he hated Malfoy at that moment more then any other time in his life.  
  
James whipped out his wand and said the first curse that came to his head.  
  
'Furnunculus!'  
  
Great ugly boils immediately appeared on Malfoys face. He yelled in frustration and at the moment Professor Capeseo swept in the door.  
  
'Professor, Potter cursed me' said Malfoy, showing Capeseo his face.  
  
Malfoy was sent to the hospital wing and Capeseo turned his dark, threatening face to James  
  
'Is it true that you were the one to give Mr Malfoy those boils?' He asked in a dangerous voice.  
  
'Yes, sir' answered James  
  
'Right, well if that's the case, detention, this evening in the dungeon and 50 points from Gryffindor'  
  
'But-' started Sirius  
  
'No arguments, Mr Black, or it will be you with detention' said Capeseo silkily 'and Mr Potter, if you value your position as headboy at all, you will not behave like this in the future, is that clear?  
  
'Yes, sir' said Sirius and James in unison.  
  
The rest of the lesson was spent working vigorously to get a potion finished by the end of the lesson and by that time James was well and truly in a bad mood  
  
'Ah well' said Sirius as they walked out of the dungeon 'at least your one detention closer to getting the record'  
  
That evening James dragged himself down to the dungeon for his detention. He was surprised to find 2 other students already in the dungeon. Usually Capeseo gave individual detentions  
  
'Mr Potter, you here' drawled Capeseo 'right, well all these cupboards need to be cleaned out and stacked again neatly, then this floor and the walls need to be scrubbed clean ad no talking, is that clear?'  
  
Capeseo strode to the door, opened it, walked out and slammed the door behind him.  
  
James looked around at his company in the room.  
  
There was a short, dark-haired boy who James was sure was Chaser on the Ravenclaw quidditch team. The other person in the room was a girl with red hair. It took James a few minutes to realize it was the girl that he ran into a couple of days ago at breakfast.  
  
Lily was introducing herself the Ravenclaw boy and then turned to James.  
  
'Hey, James, remember me?' asked Lily  
  
'Er.yeah, hi' said James uncertainly.  
  
'You know, it's a surprise seeing you here, I mean, with you being headboy and all, I didn't really think you'd get detention' said Lily cheerfully 'what did you do to get in here'  
  
'Oh..um, Malfoy said something to me and I sort of.cursed him' answered James  
  
'Malfoy? he's that Slythrin isn't he?, he's a git' Lily said  
  
'Why are you here?' asked James in an effort to be conversational  
  
Lily giggled 'Well, lets say I gave that Slythrin, Morsa Banks, a reason never to insult me again'  
  
James raised an eyebrow 'You cursed her?'  
  
'Yup, big time' said Lily, smiling 'well, we better get started cleaning, if we wanna get out of here soon'  
  
After about an hour of silent cleaning, the dungeon was spotless, well as spotless as a dungeon can be.  
  
Professor Capeseo came and let them out and Lily and James made their way to Gryffindor tower.  
  
'Must be pretty hard being headboy, huh?' Lily asked out of the blue.  
  
James was taken back by the question so he didn't answer straight away  
  
'Um.Yeah, I guess, but I like it'  
  
'Really? It always seems like such a hard job, all that work' Lily said earnestly 'anyway, when are you and your friends going to play another one of your great pranks, because, I'm telling you, the Slythrins are really testing my patience lately'  
  
James laughed softly 'I'm sure we'll think of something pretty soon'  
  
They had arrived at the portrait hole and climbed through.  
  
'Well, anyway, I'm gonna head of to bed now, so I'll see you around' said Lily and she walked up the girls staircase  
  
'Yeah, see you' said James, sitting down, on one of the couches.  
  
James grinned to himself. He had never met a person who was so easy to talk to on the first meeting as Lily. Sure, he was still a bit wary of her constant cheerfulness but she made him laugh. James wasn't saying he was all of a sudden going to become best friends with Lily but it was nice to have someone to talk to who didn't place expectations and labels on him.  
  
James made his way up the boys staircase to bed, thinking to himself that the day hadn't been a complete waste of time.  
  
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Well that turned out longer then the others, I think. Anyway hoped you liked it. And don't forget to review or I'll be sad, savvy?  
  
Peace 


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